Tor Bay, Nova Scotia

Community in Nova Scotia, Canada

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Tor Bay in Nova Scotia

Tor Bay is a small fishing community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough in Guysborough County.[1][2] It is located at the south-western end of a bay of the same name.[3]

## History

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In the 1830s, fishing vessels of between 40 and 120 tons were being built here.[4]

Tor Bay was the termination site of an early transatlantic telegraph cable laid in 1875 to Ballinskelligs, Ireland—a distance of 2,565 nautical miles (4,750 km).[5] A cable laid in 1874 connected Tor Bay to Rye Beach, New Hampshire, United States—a distance of 536 nautical miles (993 km).[5]

In 1874, the Direct United States Cable Company landed at Tor Bay, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. Known as the Faraday Station, and only some thirty miles from Canso; it operated until 1887. [6]

Captain Savalette was a fisherman from St. Jean De Luz, France, who used the shores and islands of Tor Bay to carry out his viable fishery by catching and drying his fish here during the 1500s and 1600s. He carried on his trade for many years from 1565 onward. Acadians celebrate Festival Savalette August 5th-8th every year. [7] Captain Zabaleta of Donibane Lohitzun (Saint-Jean-de-Luz) had spent 42 summers at “Port Savalet” in Nova Scotia, where Samuel de Champlain met him in 1609 and named the place in his honor. [8]

Tor Bay Provincial Park: Picturesque picnic area on a rocky point looking out to the open Atlantic, 8 km (5 mi) south of Larry's River. Sweeping sand beaches; boardwalks and interpretive displays describing natural environment as well as historical significance of this site as landing point for first trans-Atlantic cable. [9]

A designated Parks Canada National Historic Site Monument, Place Savalette is located in Port Felix on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore and is recognized as a pioneering location of the “dry fishery” in Acadia. [10]

## References

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1. ^ Fergusson, C. Bruce (1967). Place-Names and Places of Nova Scotia. Halifax, NS: Public Archives of Nova Scotia. p. 676. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
2. ^ "Tor Bay (Unincorporated place)". Geographical Names Board of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
3. ^ "Tor Bay (Bay)". Geographical Names Board of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
4. ^ Blunt, Edmund March (1833). The American Coast Pilot (12 ed.). New York: E. and G.W. Blunt. p. 117. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
5. ^ a b Glover, Bill. "Direct United States Cable Company Cable Station ~ Rye Beach, New Hampshire". History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications. Atlantic Cable.
6. ^ "Canso and Hazel Hill's place in the story".
7. ^ "Place Savalette".
8. ^ Goya, Miren Egaña. "A Permanent Place in Newfoundland: Seventeenth-Century Basque Tombstones in Placentia".
9. ^ "Tor Bay | Nova Scotia Parks".
10. ^ "Place Savalette".

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Guysborough County

Municipalities|

* Municipality of the District of St. Mary's
* Municipality of the District of Guysborough

Geography|

* Chedabucto Bay
* Liscomb Game Sanctuary
* St. Mary's River
* Strait of Canso

Towns|

Mulgrave

Communities|

* Alder River
* Argyle
* Aspen
* Boylston
* Cameron Settlement
* Canso
* Charlos Cove
* Crow's Nest
* Denver
* Dover
* Little Dover
* Erinville
* Forest Hill
* Giant's Lake
* Glencoe
* Guysborough
* Isaac's Harbour
* Lincolnville
* Liscomb
* Lundy
* Manchester
* Melrose
* New Chester
* Ogden
* Pirate Harbour
* Port Shoreham
* Roachvale
* Roman Valley
* Salmon River Lake
* Sherbrooke
* Spanish Ship Bay
* Sonora
* South Merland
* St Mary's River
* Tor Bay
* Whitehead
* Wine Harbour

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